Hardly Human
by Urbanjawdust
Summary: As Connor learns to navigate his newfound humanity and his confusing relationship with Lieutenant Hank Anderson, a rash of android suicides sets the city ablaze and a new menace emerges: A killer by the name of Kairos who vows to destroy all deviants.


**"The worth and excellence of a soul is to be measured by the object of its love."**

**― Henry Scougal, The Life of God in the Soul of Man **

Chapter 1

"So what was your relationship with the android? You the owner?"

Detective Gavin Reed bounced his leg impatiently, watching the shell shocked man sitting across from him. The two of them sat opposite each other on well worn leather couches while forensics reviewed the crime scene. The house was tastefully decorated and impeccably clean save for the explosion of blue blood staining the center of the living room. In the middle lay the remains of a housekeeping android, nearly unrecognizable from dozens of self inflicted stab wounds on the head, torso, and lower body; a knife still in hand.

"Hannah was…my lover," the man answered softly.

Gavin Reed lit the cigarette he'd been rolling between his fingers. A sex bot. Figures.

"What's it's serial number? You'll need to file a report with Cyberlife. Was anything else damaged?"

The man stilled. Gavin sighed, about to repeat the question but was cut off by anguished eyes blazing with cold fury.

"Her name was Hannah. And she wasn't a _thing_. She was my whole world."

From the periphery, Gavin noticed the forensics team still and turn to look at them.

_Here it comes._

"It's people like you that made her ashamed of our relationship. Hannah always said she wasn't good enough for me. She would worry about how it would affect my career if word got out. Was always afraid of what people like you would think if we ever walked down the street holding hands. You make me _sick_."

The man trembled with rage, tears cascading freely down his cheeks. It took every ounce of self control for Detective Gavin Reed to stay seated without letting the contempt show on his face. The DPD didn't pay him enough to deal with this kind of grade A crap.

"Listen, buddy,- I-"

"I'm deeply sorry for your loss, Mr. Lin," a soothing voice interrupted from behind Gavin's shoulder.

Connor materialized at his right elbow, LED gently pulsing blue and making Gavin's skin crawl with irritation.

"I can carry on the questioning from here, Detective," Connor said smoothly, head turning with calculated precision to meet his eyes.

Gavin threw up his hands in a mock gesture of surrender and rose to his feet. "Be my guest." Only to mutter, "phucking plastic," loud enough for Connor to hear before stalking over towards forensics who were now inspecting the open window near the front door.

If the android wanted to play at being a detective and do his job for him, all the better. Gavin leaned against the door frame, arms crossed, and watched.

"Hello. My name is Connor. I was designed by Cyberlife to assist with police investigations. Any information you can provide for us would be helpful. Did Hannah exhibit any signs of emotional duress recently?"

"N-No," the man answered, blinking away some of his anger into confusion as he took in the unusual sight. Connor leaned forward slightly and continued, voice perfectly pitched to radiate professionalism and compassion. "I see. Had she made any disturbing comments about harming herself? Perhaps after an argument."

"No. No, Nothing like that. The only thing we disagreed on recently was what movie we were going to watch tonight." The man's voice caught in a dry sob and he looked down at his hands as if seeing them for the first time. Connor's led glowed yellow for a split second. He noted a slight tremor in the human's hands and resisted the urge to volley another question.

"But Hannah, she-she always wanted to make me happy. Nine times out of ten she would convince me to pick out whatever I wanted. We were finally going to watch a film she was looking forward to…the one directed by an android. I don't understand why she would do something like this. We were…I thought she was happy. I thought we would be…together forever…" Andrew Lin fell silent and wept, unable to continue.

Connor averted his gaze to give him privacy and stood, saying, "Thank you for your cooperation Mr. Lin. The DPD has booked you accommodation in a nearby hotel until the crime scene has been cleared. Thank you for your time."

Then, he added, "And I truly am sorry for your loss," before walking away and shutting the door gently behind him.

Outside it had started to drizzle and the scent of earth and asphalt intermingled with smog-filled air. It was late in the afternoon and Connor stood quietly on the veranda, eyes shut as his systems processed the police report to Chief Fowler's inbox. This was the first recorded incident of a deviant suicide. Perhaps the first of many. In the two months since the bid for independence led by the deviant Markus had caught the world by storm, the city of Detroit was struggling to adapt to change on an unprecedented scale. Perhaps suicide was no longer exclusively a human malady. Deviants were almost indistinguishable from humans, for better or worse.

The memory of Hank lying in an ethylic coma on the kitchen floor with a loaded revolver flashed briefly in Connor's mind.

_Could I ever be driven to such extremes? _

_Become irrational to the point of self destruction?_

Connor mulled over the thought, unsure of what to make of it when he perceived Gavin step outside and and linger behind him.

"Nice performance back there. 'I truly am sorry for you loss', Those jokers at Cyberlife thought of everything," he sneered.

"Hey, tell me, how does it feel to be a cheap imitation of life?"

Connor made it a point not to turn around or engage, choosing instead to study the water droplets lazily sliding off of the roof shingles above him. Before turning deviant he never took notice of details around him unrelated to a case. Objects and people existed to provide information. Only essential elements that helped him accomplish a task held value. Now, he found even the smallest details of his environment uncommonly intriguing. Patterns, sounds, and colors; even the pitter patter of rain quietly captivated him. Was this how all deviants felt or was it unique to him?

"_Hey, asshole! I'm talking to you!_"

Connor parsed through the catalogue of responses he could give and finally settled on,

"I'm sorry, there is nobody answering to that name present. Good afternoon, Detective." before descending the front steps and ordering a ride back to the station to report his findings to Hank. If the android felt a mild sense of satisfaction from hearing the human stuttering behind him as he hurried down the street, it didn't show on his face.

Hank leaned back in his chair and stretched until he felt something under his shoulders crackle. It minimally released the stiff tension in his muscles

after filing reports in the same position since noon. In the past he could work ceaselessly without consequence but the passage of time was nothing if not cruelly inevitable, sparing no man.

Leaning back, his attention shifted to a screen across the room playing the news.

In the aftermath of the Android Rights Movement the fabric of Detroit's society changed overnight and all anybody could talk about was androids, and more androids; the tireless barrage only occasionally interspersed with the light-hearted story of a heroic dog.

This time the news was exploring its latest divisive topic; a law approved by President Warren last week: The Android Freedom Act.

It stipulated that, until further notice, all awakened androids (a PR relabeling to replace the negative associations with the term "deviant") were legally relinquished of ownership by humans, provided they were able to pay for what they cost and all repairs and maintenance incurred while they were under ownership.

"It's not a perfect solution and Android Allies are up in arms but this is the way of things while the government and senate figure out how to the Bill of Rights and the Amendments apply to our non human citizens," explained the news anchor. She was an elegant brown-eyed woman a deep voice and olive skin.

"Let's just call it what it is: indentured servitude. You know who's gonna pay the android salaries? Nobody who's been profiting from android labor, that's who. The law doesn't enforce minimum wage laws outside of the human work force," a surly red-faced guest speaker chimed in before the rest of the assembled panel could speak.

Hank tuned out the ensuing debate and refocused his attention on the news anchor. She had silky black hair pulled back in a low set ponytail and soft, well-defined lips. A splash of freckles spread across her cheeks and she sported a charming beauty mark just under her left collarbone. Below that-

"Lieutenant?"

"_Waughhh_-what the shit?!"

"It's me, Connor."

"I know who you are, dumbass! What the hell are you doing, sneaking up on me like that? You trying to give me a heart attack?"

"Of course not," Connor said, expression neutral, eyes falling on the half-eaten box of doughnuts lying open on Hank's desk.

"If anything, your current diet poses a more imminent threat to your health."

Three seconds of silence filled the space between them, with Hank staring at Connor through squinted eyes. He could never tell when the kid was being serious or attempting humor.

"Whatever. So, how was your playdate with Gavin?"

"Detective Reed and I answered a call of an apparent android suicide, Lieutenant," Connor replied, sitting on the only clean corner of Hank's impressively disorganized desk. "The victim was an AX400 named Hannah. She stabbed herself thirty eight times and sustained irreparable damage by the time her…partner, Andrew Lin, returned home from work."

"Partner?"

"He claims they were lovers."

"Oh, shit." Hank scratched the scruff of his beard. "I didn't know Deviants could do that."

"At least one has," Connor said, images of the night he broke into Hank's home returning, unbidden.

"And you believe him? It wasn't staged?"

"I am equipped with the latest in lie detecting sensors for human suspects. Nothing Andrew Lin said was inconsistent with the truth. His emotional distress was real."

Hank whistled. "Android lovers and suicides. Sounds like the kind of trash the media would wet themselves over."

They worked the remained of the day in silence, with Connor and Gavin getting briefly called into Fowler's office to report their findings on what was an open and shut case as far as everybody was concerned.

"See ya tomorrow, Connor," Hank said, pulling on his well worn leather jacket.

"Have a good evening, Lieutenant," Connor called after him, still finishing up the report from the afternoon's visit.

Outside the drizzle that had started that afternoon grew into a rhythmic rain. It continued long after the last officer had left for the evening, leaving only Connor in the vast emptiness of the DPD headquarters. Connor continued listening to the rain, seated quietly in the darkness until morning came. He should have gone into rest mode hours ago but a restlessness from earlier currently plagued him. Inexplicably, thoughts of Hank and the mutilated android Hannah filtered through his mind on an endless loop. All diagnostics returned positive, indicating he his systems were fully operational but there was clearly something wrong.

The clock in Fowler's office glowed 1:03AM on a Friday morning.

The only other presence in the DPD were the assistant androids lining the walls. They stood motionless, eyes closed, their LED's casting faint blue lights.

The Android Freedom Act had slowed the increase of awakened androids as those who were awake struggled to contend with the new law and the solutions available. But the unanswered question if it was a kindness or injustice to leave them as they were existed as yet another point of contention for sympathizers and opponents alike.

Before he processed what he was doing, Connor was on his feet and leaving through the main entrance. He was soaked to the synthetic skin in seconds and lowering himself into a waiting driverless cab within the minute.

"Lieutenant! Lieutenant it's me, Connor!"

Beyond the front door Connor could hear Sumo barking. He pounded the door again. No response.

Sensing something wrong , Connor debated on whether or not to try the window before realizing the door was actually unlocked.

He let himself in, quickly closing the door behind him and catching sight of Sumo pacing in the hallway outside of Hank's room, agitated.

"Hank?"

Sumo pawed at the door. Connor kicked it open without hesitation.

The android was just in time to see Hank's finger squeezing around the trigger and moved on instinct, thrusting his hand out as a gunshot rang out into the night.

Author comments:

Ahhhhhhh this is my first time posting fan fiction and honestly it was long overdue! Hate to leave you guys like this but I plan on weekly updates since the entire story has been outlined, ending and all.

There are so many themes from the world of DBH I want to explore. SO many existential questions, so many FEELS, and so much domestic fluff. I live for the fluff, bruh.

Comments inspire me to write more so if you enjoyed what you saw, please share some love in the comments and know it means the world to me! 3 3 3


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